CA BoRN

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My wife is a legal permanent resident of the US, living in California, originally from the Philippines and previously spent the last 9 years in the UK, the last few of which were in ICU.

She is trying to take NCLEX here but is having problems with the BoRN. They don't respond to emails or answer the phone. They asked for transcripts etc months ago, which they received, but then asked for something else which was supplied, and then finally asked for course numbers for some of the nursing modules she took in the Philippines. No course numbers exist, which is what she's explained to them. It's annoying that they could have asked that on the previous exchange. The problem is each exchange takes weeks so I'm worried that they'll ask another question and we won't get a response to that until Jan-Feb. It is terribly slow. Any ideas, or do we just have to live with it? Great that she gets more time to revise, not so great that we're living on one wage, barely making ends meet each month.

Secondly, she has heard rumours that she won't be allowed to take the NCLEX in SoCal - some people are known to have had to take it elsewhere, like back in the Philippines. This sounds crazy - and expensive - but I don't know whether the others had some mitigating circumstance. But in any case, it's worrying the wife just as much as the NCLEX itself. Any ideas?

Finally, in the event she fails the NCLEX, do you think there's any benefit in trying to apply for a non-RN job and try to work her way up? I've heard some hospitals will help people get NCLEX but I don't know how widespread that is. She's looking at Kaiser Fontana, the Adventist place in Glendale, or maybe one or two other places along I-210 really. She's mentioned Loma Linda but it's too far out for my liking, but if needs must!

I've browsed through various threads but didn't manage to find anything relevant.

Thanks - one of those links is one I glanced at, though at 74 pages I didn't read anywhere near all of it! Although she's got something like 14 years of nursing experience, I guess she might still be deficient in some areas. I'm not sure what the procedure is for building up those requirements - some posts seem to suggest she can do it while working (presumably NOT as an RN at that point), others say go back to school. Are both feasible, especially in SoCal?

(By the way, it would be far better if she could reply personally but she's not the forum type, so I apologise for the second hand stuff)

Do you think it's worth going the LVN route and then trying to work her way up, maybe try to get the hospital to support her in her quest to become an RN? Is this common for hospitals in SoCal to do? In some ways I feel - perhaps wrongly - that doing the LVN route would delay becoming an RN because she won't have time to study for the NCLEX while she's working as an LVN.

If she was educated in the Phils, she may run in to the concurrency issue. It does not matter how many years she practiced as a nurse. Each state board has their own specific education and other (SSN, years working as a nurse, etc) requirements. CA is enforcing the concurrency rules (education). The options then are:

1) Take the required courses. There may be 2-4 schools in the CA that may offer the courses. Just note that there will be fierce competition for the limited spots.

2) Go the LVN route and then take a bridge program. There is no shame going the LVN route.

Thank you for the further response. Since writing my reply, the mail man has been and dropped off a letter saying "you have been found eligible to take the NCLEX-RN"! At last! So that means no further training, nothing missing?

Congrats to your wife (and you), it's possible maybe that your wife got her BSN degree prior to the 2004 year, when many of the requirements back then and prior to may have qualified under the concurrency rule before being more strictly enforced. If it was obtained after 2004, then consider the situation a blessing! But in the same thought, make sure she passes the NCLEX the first time, as many have gotten denied for the same reasons upon re-application process.

Thank you! Just typical how we wait weeks for something to happen, I decide to post here again, and within an hour the mail arrives with the good news! I saw the envelope while she was out shopping and had to stop myself from opening it, without even expecting the good news for one moment - I was in full expectation of more requirements or information.

She graduated from the Philippines in 1995 or maybe 1996 I think. I know she spent time in the Philippine Heart Center as a cardiac nurse before going to the UK as a regular nurse and then ICU for the last few years - though it would appear that practical experience is not really a factor, only theoretical at University. That's odd to me but then I'm not in the medical profession at all.

Next week - planned before today's news - she's going for 4 days of classroom sessions, by Kaplan I think. They recommend that the test be taken within 6 weeks of the classroom sessions, so she's going to aim for the test in January. I really hope she's ready! Six months of intense revision, and a good year of part time revision before then. Only one way to find out... This really could be a life changer for us, from living just about comfortably to being able to live a little. I know we already have more than many but at least this way we can start giving back to our families that have supported us - her family in the Philippines, and my family in the UK.